A/N: This is a one shot I wrote for Bethyl Smut Week. I hope you like it. Leave a review and let me know. :)

It's been months. Over seven months to be accurate. Which Beth knows she can be accurate thanks to the people who have been keeping track of the days since the beginning of the end. It's almost as if time has stopped in Alexandria. Almost frozen in the moment before the world ended. It's an illusion though. Because even though it's easy to fool yourself into thinking it's possible to have a piece of the old world in this little town, there are reminders everywhere that everything has changed. From almost any point in town you can see the walls. The walls that remind you that there is something dangerous just beyond them; that they're necessary for even a chance of survival. Every time you walk near the them you can hear the groans and moans of the walkers, desperate for something to sink their teeth into. You're reminded with every meal, that more often than not lacks fresh meat. And when they do have meat it's wild game and not the usual beef from before.

It's even harder for Beth and her family to fool themselves after all they've been through. She doesn't even want to. After the hell she fought through to get to where she was, here with her family, here with him, she doesn't want to forget for a moment what can happen if you become complacent. She doesn't want to forget what, at any moment, she could lose.

Even though it's been seven months since she fought her way back to Daryl, she can understand his fear. Because she feels it too. The fear that at any moment she could disappear and that this could all be a dream. That this isn't real. She needs to be reminded as much as he does that she is alive. So every night when he becomes frantic, nearly desperate to touch her and be touched by her, she becomes filled with the same urgent need. It's not always like that. During the day they separate to their jobs, though he did refuse to continue to be a scout and got transferred to a job that wouldn't require him to be separated from her for days at a time. When they find time during the day to be together they range from slow and sweet to fast and rough, and everything in between. They're rational.

It's only every night when they retire to their room that the certainty of her being alive somehow becomes skewed and blurry. As if the clarity goes away as soon as the sun goes down. Like Beth and Daryl are afraid that the moment they fall asleep it will all become a dream and she'll still be dead in Atlanta. That if Daryl doesn't fall asleep with the scent of her on skin or the taste of her on his lips, none of this will be real. Tonight is no different.

Beth is undressing for bed in their room when she hears the soft click of the door being closed. She didn't hear it open but that's nothing new. Daryl can be silent when he wants to. She knows it's him. She knows by the way goosebumps spread across her skin, the way anticipation curls deep in her stomach. He steps behind her but doesn't touch her yet. Instead he leans forward a little and pushes his nose into her hair, breathing her in. She can't help a shiver when she feels his breath against her skin as he lowers his head to nuzzle into her neck. She pushes back, molding herself against his chest. Daryl wraps his arms around her waist. No words are spoken between them. After all this time, there is no need for them. His hands move slowly over skin, grazing the top of her panties and slipping under her t-shirt. His fingertips are ghosting feather light over her, teasing her. Beth grabs one his hands and urges it higher, wanting to feel his hands on her breasts. Daryl let's her lead his hand until he brushes the underside of her bare breasts.

Just when Beth thinks he's going to touch her the way she wants, he stops. Daryl grips her hips and spins her around in his arms and pulls her flush against him. He stares down at her intently, eyes darkened with desire and a hint of disbelief. Beth knows it's disbelief in the whole situation; her being alive and in his arms this way. She knows because he's whispered it to over and over in the pitch black of their room. She doesn't think it will ever go away. But if it fuels him to keep worshipping her the way he does, and let her do the same in return, she doesn't think she wants it to.

Finally, after what feels like an eternity, he lowers his head and brushes his lips across hers. It's an echo of a kiss, full of anticipation. Done with the teasing, Beth pushes her lips against his harder. It only takes one act on her part for Daryl to lose the tight control he is holding onto. One brush of her tongue against his lips and he snaps. One hand buries itself in her hair and tugs, causing her to gasp in pleasure and give him the opening he needs. Before she knows it his tongue is moving against hers, caressing and tasting, with a desperation she knows so well. It's harsh and it's insistent and it's exactly what she needs. He always gives her exactly what she needs. She grips his biceps, loving the feel of his muscles beneath her fingertips, not even trying to keep up with him. She let's him take what wants and enjoys every second of it.

By the time he breaks the kiss Beth is gasping for air. She moans low in her throat as he leaves sloppy open mouthed kisses along the column of her neck. His hands are frantically pulling at her panties tugging them lower. When they drop to her ankles she steps out of them and kicks them away. She reaches for his belt at the same time he reaches for her shirt, but she's determined to get a least one piece of his clothes off him. She pulls down his pants, appreciating that he wasn't wearing anything underneath them. The moment they drop Daryl grips her shirt and pulls it over her head. He quickly sheds the rest of his clothes, moving with an urgency that's more intense than she's ever seen from him before. Something must have happened today. Close calls always leave him needing her more than ever. But she'll worry about that later. Right now all she can focus on is his touch, his lips, and the hardness of his naked body pressed up against her softer one and under her hands.

Daryl grips her ass and lifts her up. She automatically wraps her legs around him, trapping his hard cock between her wet cunt and his stomach. He turns them and lays her down onto the bed, holding himself above her while letting his gaze roam her body.

"So beautiful" he whispers huskily, speaking for the first time since entering the room. She flushes but he doesn't give her a chance to respond before he's latched onto her breast, flicking and sucking on her nipple. Beth lets out a low moan at finally getting the kind of touch she wanted. He works both hard pink nipples with his tongue and his hands, leaving her breathless and gasping. But it isn't long before he makes his way down her body, nipping and sucking, leaving marks he will trace over and over again in the morning with his hands. They're reminders that each night happens and he wasn't dreaming.

Once Daryl reaches her core, he wastes no time on teasing and buries his face in her cunt, causing her cry out. All she can feel is him. He's everywhere; going from her flicking and licking her clit to lapping at her entrance to burying his tongue deep in her pussy. He's using his fingers and mouth to drive her crazy. He uses them to pull moan after moan out of her. She's gripping his hair and pushing her hips up to grind into face. She's so close and he's keeps hitting that spot inside that makes her shake and quiver, everytime he curls his fingers forward. Finally she goes over the edges and comes hard, clenching his fingers with her walls, and crying out his name.

Daryl doesn't give her time to recover and before she knows it he's pulling her off the bed and moving them towards the vanity. He spins her around pushes on her back until she's bending over. He's got one hand on her her hip and the other is gripping his cock, stroking it roughly as he stares into her eyes through the mirror. He has taken her so many different ways in this room; her on top riding him, up against the wall, him hovering over he as he thrusts deep. The only thing that never changes is he always has to be able to look into her eyes. There hasn't been one time where she's come apart without maintaining eye contact with him.

He's looking at her now with desire plain on his face. Beth couldn't look away even if she wanted to. And she most certainly doesn't want to. She revels in the intensity of the moment. He lines his cock up at her entrance and pushes in slowly, stretching her as she takes him inch by inch. She sees the way his face twists with pleasure and he groans once he's fully seated in her. He doesn't break his stare as he slides himself almost all the way back out of her, only to snap his hips forward in a rough thrust. She moans loudly when he does. Once he hears her a flip is switched and he's back to the urgency of before.

Daryl thrusts into her roughly, knowing she can take it, and goes as deep as possible. It's fast and bordering on painful but it only adds to her pleasure. His grip on her hips are tight and will leave bruises but it only makes her feel more alive. Beth is barely aware of the sounds that are coming out of her mouth. She's gasping and letting out broken moans and unintelligible words that sound vaguely like "yes" and "daryl" over and over again. He grunting with every thrust and muttering "fuck" every time she pulses around his cock. It once again feels like time is standing still. She doesn't know how long he fucks her for. It could have been hours or it could have been minutes. It doesn't matter because she's suspended in the moment enjoying his cock inside her and the heat it creates in her belly.

Beth is getting so close and she can tell Daryl is too.

"Come for me Beth," he growls behind her. One of his hands leaves her hip to reach up around her and pull her against his chest. She is still being pushed against the edge of vanity but it barely registers. She can feel his harsh breathing again in her ear causing her to shiver pleasantly. His hand travels to her breasts to pinch each nipple roughly a few times before traveling lower, through her curls until his fingers touch her clit. He begins to draw tight little circles around it, in the exact way he needs to to push over the edge into her orgasm. The second he can feel her clench and tighten sound his dick, he stutters in his rhythm, unable to hold back any longer and comes deep inside her while chanting her name over and over again, like a litany, until he's spent. Beth comes down seconds later and collapses against his chest with a tired smile on her face

Once they've cleaned up, they lay in bed, her head on his chest with his arm around her keeping her close against him. She's tracing patterns on his chest with her fingers and he's stroking her hair. They're both sated and starting to feel sleepy.

"This is real right? You're here and I'm not dreaming?" Daryl mutters, voice barely loud enough for her to hear. These are the kind of things he only says in the dark. He only voices his fears to Beth.

"Yeah, I'm here." She never tires of reassuring him. It never hurts her that he still doubts. She's heard enough from her sister and from Carol to know how he was when he thought she was dead. She would reassure him every minute of every day that they have left together, if it would stop him from ever feeling that way again.

"I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I love you," Beth reassures him once again. She can feel him smile against the top of her head like he does every night that she tells him those three words.

When she's almost asleep, still securely held in his arms she hears him finally respond. "Love you too darlin'."